Amul bets big on its chocolate business

Amul is the fourth largest chocolate brand in the country after Cadbury, Ferrero and Nestle

TNN

July 27, 2016, 18:31 IST

RS SodhiAfter over four decades, home-grown Amul is all set to triple its chocolate manufacturing capacity to meet growing demand from consumers.

The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited, popularly known as Amul Dairy, is set to expand its chocolate making capacity at the Mogar plant from present 3,000 tonnes per annum to 12,000 tonnes per annum. This is the first-ever expansion that Amul has embarked upon at the chocolate plant.

Mogar is the only chocolate plant in the entire network of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) - the apex body of all the district milk unions of Gujarat that markets brand Amul. Amul is fourth largest chocolate brand in the country after Cadbury, Ferrero and Nestle.

Against the capacity of 3,000 tonnes per annum, Amul chocolates sales have increased to 3,500 tonnes per annum.

"The current chocolate making capacity which is 250 tonnes per month will be increased to 1,000 tonnes per month looking at the growth of the segment and to meet the increasing demand of Amul chocolates in the next 10 to 15 years, both from consumers as well as institutional level. We will be investing Rs 100 crore for this," said Dr K Rathnam, managing director, Amul Dairy.

"Tenders for the capacity expansion have already been issued while the technical evaluation is going on. By end of next month, we will take final call on technology. The expansion will be completed in next 12 to 15 months," he said.

Rathnam said that Amul chocolates, especially dark chocolates and 150 gram bars, are being well received from consumers. "We see growth in this segment as people have started gifting chocolates instead of sweets during festive seasons," he added.

The Mogar plant was set up by Father of India's White Revolution late Dr Verghese Kurien in 1973 to prevent exploitation of cocoa bean growers of South India, especially Kerala by the multinationals. Initially, it had introduced milk chocolates in the country after which it started offering fruit and nut chocolates, dark chocolates, bitter chocolates, orange and coffee flavoured chocolates among others.